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What Next? The Aftermath Of The Terrorist Attacks

We all heard about the horrific terrorist attacks on Paris. We all mourned the loss of innocent lives at the hand of extremists. Yet now, an important question arises, what next? What should our response be to this act of violence? With this question in mind I interviewed two of my classmates, Christian Carr and Javier Busto.

NC: Hello Christian, how’s it going?
CC: Things are great.
NC: Alright let’s get right into. I know you heard about the Paris attacks, what was your initial reaction?
CC: It was very sad, I was in shock for a while. Any time an attack like this happens it makes you question your own safety.
NC: Now four days after, you’ve probably heard about President Hollande’s response, to bomb ISIS strongholds, like Raqqa, even more than before. What are your thoughts on this? Is this a justified and correct response considering that many innocents might be killed?
CC: I don’t think they should rush into it, like Bush did in 2001, we should analyze where and who the enemy is and then attack.
NC: Are you concerned at all about a new possible wave of Islamophobia in Europe and other western countries?
CC: No, not at all.
NC: Ok, thanks for your time Christian.

NC: Hey Javi, how are you?
JB: Good.
NC: Ok, I’m sure you’ve heard about the Paris attacks, what were your first thoughts?
JB: Actually it was to find who caused it and how can we stop this.
NC: Well it’s been half a week, you’re probably aware that France will increase its activity in the Middle East, following other countries who have recently escalated their attacks. Do you agree with this response?
JB: I do agree, we’ve got to rough them [ISIS] up.
NC: Do you fear a new possible wave of Islamophobia in countries?
JB: Yes, I believe we’re blaming all Muslims when in fact it’s really only a small minority.
NC: Ok thanks for your time Javi.

As we can see people are at odds over what our reaction to Muslim extremists should be. Dealing with a small yet extremely volatile group while protecting the rights of innocent refugees has become one of the most controversial topics of the year. Everyone, it seems, has their own different opinion. Almost all agree that an active response against ISIS is needed, yet some caution that the same mistakes the Bush administration committed shouldn’t be repeated and argue for a rather level headed response. Islamophobia is also a hot topic because some see it as blatant discrimination against a religious group, while others argue that we should be wary of potential insurrectionists.